Pentagon "Pundits" Program Wins Golden Falsie

The Pentagon's embedded pundits program walked... make that limped, away with the Center for Media and Democracy's Golden Falsie award the top award for "those responsible for polluting the information environment over the past year."

The pundit program was the one in which retired military officials were armed with administration talking points about the war in Iraq and other Bush administration policies and sent them to the media front lines--mostly cable and broadcast news channels and programs.

Some of the pundits also had ties to military contractors, ties not disclosed to viewers, and helped to drum up business for their bosses using the talking points and media exposure, says CMD, citing the New York Times article that broke the story.

CMD also argues that with the exception of CNN and NPR, the major broadcast and cable news outlets have yet to report on the story.